Once Upon a Heartbreak
by AnOthEr-bEIng
Summary: She ran away hoping to find a sanctuary but instead, she ran into the one thing she was running away from. Her memories.


Once Upon a Heartbreak

From a random story challenge in S_H_I_N_E (join it!!!)

Noun: dress  
Verb: your pick (walk)  
Setting: in a garden  
Situation: betrayal; rejection

* * *

Stars adorn the night like diamonds in the sky. Gently breeze lazily caresses the ex-host's short tresses. The sweet smell of roses, columbines, and yellow carnations fill the air. Behind her, the party was in full swing, people laughing and dancing and saying "congratulations" to the subject of the party. She herself watches from afar, only giving a small sad smile when their eyes meet. She didn't want to come to this place but the pleading looks in his eyes beg and _beg_until she gave in with a sigh. Haruhi slowly walks down the path of the garden, taking random turns and half-hoping that she would get lost. Her seafoam dress flitters when the breeze passes by and Haruhi shivers and curse the stupid strapless dress that the twins made her wear. At some point of her path, she finds a pond. She stares at it blankly. Then she smiles bitterly at the irony of it. That she would come across the thing that she was running from. Her memories.

* * *

_3 years ago: a week before Tamaki's graduation. _

_Ouran's third music room: after host hour_

"HARUHIIIIII!!!!" a flurry of blonde flies across the room and gathers the petite brunette in his arms.

"Let's go home together, my darling!!!!" he spins her round and round until the brunette feels her stomach clench and black dots appear before her eyes.

"M-M-Mori-sempai." A pair of strong arms protectively lifts her from the idiot king's clutches. Haruhi weakly hang onto Mori's arm, trying to keep herself from emptying her stomach onto the floor in the most unlady-like manner. Finally, her vision clears and she glances at the dark corner filled with mushrooms.

'_Why do I associate myself with such an idiot?'_Haruhi sighs. "Let's go home, Tamaki-sempai."

Clouds of sparkles, hearts, and roses attack the female host as she finds herself being dragged by the hand and speeding down the Ouran stairway and into the courtyard. Tamaki slows down into a walk, still holding Haruhi's hand. He smiles at the surrounding Sakura petals dancing in the wind.

"Ne, Haruhi. The Cherry blossoms are beautiful this year. I want to see the Cherry blossoms bloom with everyone next year too. And the year after, and the year after that too. And everywhere after that when we become all old and watching after our great-grandchildren. I want all of us to stay together forever. Do you think that I'm a foolish person for thinking such wistful thoughts, Haruhi?"

Haruhi looks up at his face, curious and surprise. This is one of his rare mature moments. Moments that made her fall for him. She squeezes his hand reassuringly and gives him her famous natural smile.

"I'd like to think that everyone would stay together no matter what. It's a lot of fun staying together!"

"Kawaii!!!!" Tamaki squeals and grab her into a bear hug, all seriousness lost.

"Sempai!" Haruhi pushes against his chest, trying to get some air into her lungs.

Tamaki loosen his hold on her and put his chin on her head, "I thought I told you not to call me sempai, Haruhi. At least when we're alone anyways."

Haruhi roll her eyes and give a small smile against the vibration of his chest and presses her ears to his steady heartbeat, "Hai, hai."

Tamaki grabs her hand and pulls her into a walk again, this time chattering about random things. Haruhi feels a small stab in her chest and wonder why Tamaki seems more bipolar than usual. She mentally shakes her head and dismisses the feeling and instead focuses on the sound of his voice.

They walk through the garden in silence. By now, Haruhi is very curious about his strange behavior. As if he was thinking and worrying about something. But she keeps her mouth shut. He would tell her when he's ready. And she would be here to listen to him.

They walk out of the garden and stop in front of the pond. The big pink clock tower gleaming at the reflection of the sun. Lily pads floats in the rippling water caused by the peeing statue. The brunette smiles fondly at the memory. _'Handsome men can't be hurt by water'_ that was the first time she came across his "mature" side and she could remember her heart skipping a beat when he said that cheesy line with the sun kissing his face. She turns to her lover to find him staring into the water unseeingly.

"Tamaki?"

The said man blinks and turns to her.

"What's wrong?"

A mixture of surprised and fear flash into his eyes and she stares at him in concern.

"Are you ok?" her small hands reach up to caress his face. The tip of her finger brushes his cheek and he flinches away. Haruhi stares in shock.

"Tamaki?"

He guiltily looks away from her worried gaze.

"Haruhi…my father's company is going bankrupted."

Large brown eyes widen in surprise. Bankrupted?

"But…what does that have to do with anything?" Haruhi's heart thumps loudly in her chest. Her body already comprehending the situation before her mind does.

"My grandmother…decided that the only out of this is an arranged marriage between the daughter of the president of some company and me," Tamaki raises his violet eyes to meet her brown ones. Forever seems to stretch on, the two pairs of eyes stare at each other: one reflecting pain, the other reflecting betrayal.

Tamaki's heart broke. There's nothing that he wants more than to spend the rest of his life with her. His darling daughter. His precious friend. His first love. The tearful look on her face will remain in his heart, forever reminding him of his crime against this angel. His hand twitches, wanting to gather her into his arms and kiss those damn tears away. But he restrains himself. He knows that if he touches her now, he wouldn't be able to let go of her. Instead, he swallows his own tears, clenches his fists, before looking into her eyes and whispers:

"Haruhi…Gomen…"

Then he ran. Away from his angel. Away from the world. Away to any place that he can let out all of his hurt, his frustration. Blood from the crescent marks on his palms begin to spread. His hands begin to sting from the pain. The stinging pain slightly relieves the pressure of his tortured soul.

* * *

"Haruhi…Gomen…"

Haruhi flinches, even though she didn't realize it, and says nothing. She continues to look at her lover—ex-lover— and his retreating back unseeingly. Inside of her normally logical mind, everything was going haywire. His words echo in her head.

'_Arrange marriage'_

'_Gomen'_

'_Gomen'_

_'Gomen'_

Her body takes a shaky breath. Her vision becomes blurry and fluid slowly rolls down her pale cheeks. Her hand touches the foreign drops and stares at it in surprise. She hasn't shed any tears for anyone or anything ever since her mother's death. And yet, because of this man standing in front of her. This _idiot_had managed to make her cry in a few sentences. Haruhi wipes the back of her hand against her cheeks. She frowns. The tears won't stop flowing. Maybe if she tilts her head up it would stop…

"Ahh, my chest hurts, what is this feeling? It's like I can't breath or something," she murmurs, her hand pressed over her heart to help ease the pain.

"Maybe otou-san's home, I should go home and make dinner for him." With feet as heavy as lead, Haruhi walks away from the setting sun, leaving behind her heart and her first love, not looking back even once.

* * *

_Present time: inside the garden at the party_

Haruhi smiles ruefully. She still remembers it all to the very last detail: the sun glinting off of the clock tower, the sparkling reflection in the water, the peeing statue in the middle of the pond. It was her first heartbreak and she didn't even realize it back then. She didn't even realize that something was wrong with her until her dad pointed it out that she was skipping breakfast, zoning out, and are those bags under her eyes? The day after that _incident_she went to school, try to act normal and told those people that notice her strange behavior that she didn't get enough sleep last night. But of course, the host club didn't buy her lies. The twins almost killed Tamaki when they finally drag the truth out of her. Kyoya arranged for her to take time off from the host club, Mori was more protective of her than usual and Huni stayed with her to keep her company. She was grateful to them, to know that they all cared for her. But she turned down their help. She didn't want them to worry about her.

After a couple of months of irregular sleep patterns and getting many worried glances from her friends and dad, she finally began to get over her heartbreak—a term she learned after her dad forcefully sat her down and lectured her. She could hear his name without her heart clenching itself painfully. She could look at him without tearing up. And she could talk to him without feeling awkward. Kind of. After all, she couldn't dwell in the past for long, not if she wants to accomplish her goals and become what her mother once was. And so, she left it all behind. She wiped the table clean and was determined to start over.

Gradually, she renewed her friendship with Tamaki and things became less awkward between them. Time healed both of their wounds, leaving behind an ugly scar on their pure hearts. But still, they had managed to overcome this barrier and here they are today. At his engagement party. To the same rich young daughter from three years ago. Even without saying anything, they both know that this is the last chapter of their book, their epilogue. The bittersweet story had ended and the book was put away among other tales. Haruhi gives a gentle smile once more before turning away from the pond and walk away, not looking back even once.

* * *

AN: ahhh finally done!! Originally I had intended for this story to by KyoHaru or something like that but somehow...Tamaki popped up...and I ended up making a sad TamaHaru -sweatdrop-

This story took forever because my muse rob me blind of ideas and I was stuck. But she finally came back and thus this story was finished!!! And if my grammar was bad...I'M SO SORRY!!! My mother is no good at English and when I was learning English, I learned and practiced with her. Hence the transfer of terrible grammar.


End file.
